The stock Palm Pre has an adequate but ho-hum 500MHz processor inside with 256MB or RAM. And even the Palm Pre Plus simply doubles the RAM. So how would the Pre run with a much faster processor? Now we know.

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On modder overclocked his Pre (1.3.5.1 software) from 500 to 800MHz. He lost a good deal of battery life. Apparently battery life was unaffected, but heat can be a real issue. Chances are that the phone may one day get so hot that it melts his Hanes to his hip.

UPDATE: From Caj2008, one of the developers behind this Pre overclocking, heat isn't a major concern. In fact, it sounds like the everything runs pretty well!

I am caj2008 (Jeff) and I worked with the brilliant developer unixpsycho (Marco), to create the 720 MHz and 800 MHz kernels for OS1.3.5.1 on the Palm Pre (all versions). Prior to release of this software to the public, we ran an 80 member strong alpha test study (users from all walks of life) comparing the 720 and 800 MHz kernels with the standard Palm 500 MHz kernel (control). It was discovered that these kernels compared with the 500 MHz kernel did not significantly increased heat production or result in dramatically reduced battery life. The performance of the Pre improved incredibly with no loss in stability (vide infra)...We will withhold the OS1.4 version until all safety criteria have been met. The install process will be improved further by Rod Whitby's Preware program aided by aupt-4 new technology (E. Gaudet). Look at our data and reach your own conclusions. I myself have had my phone 800 MHz installed for a few weeks without any hiccups. All phones with prolonged cpu intensive activities produce heat but our kernel does not appear to exacerbate that...